Legitimate chronic pain patients DEMAND continued opioid therapy now

Victims of disease and traumatic injury who suffer chronic, debilitating pain, are being stripped of their only form of pain relief.

They have undergone countless other therapies, medications, and in some cases invasive surgeries, in an attempt to find pain relief to no avail.

After finding some relief in legal opioid therapies, under doctor supervision, legitimate chronic pain patients:
• Comply with increasing DEA regulations
• Do not take opioids to “get high”
• Take this medication to perform everyday tasks (that most take for granted) without being in relentless, excruciating pain

According to the CDC:
1) Heroin and illicit fentanyl NOT legally prescribed pain pills taken by legitimate pain patients, are primarily to blame for the soaring rate of drug overdoses
2) Alcohol is responsible for more deaths in the United States than prescription opioids
3) Addiction only occurs in a small percentage of people when narcotics are used under proper medical supervision

Yet, due to increasing DEA regulations set forth to curb the “opioid epidemic”, LEGITIMATE chronic pain patients
1) Are made to sign “pain contracts”
2) Take regular drug tests (often at their own expense) to ensure they have only the prescribed amount of medication and no illegal drugs in their system
3) Report for random “pill counts” (to make sure they’re not selling their medication)
4) Must wait a full 30 days to refill prescriptions at which time the pharmacy is often “out of stock” and have to wait up to a week for medication to arrive.

But the “opioid epidemic” persists because increasing DEA regulations are more punitive to LEGITIMATE chronic pain patients than they are effective in curbing ILLEGAL drug use

And now chronic pain patients, not illegal drug users, are having their drug therapy drastically reduced or eliminated completely due to OTHERS taking these medications ILLEGALLY and irresponsibly.

Legitimate chronic pain patients, their family and friends who watch them suffer, their caregivers, and responsible physicians petition for the following:
1) Allow those who suffer from documented chronic pain due to disease or traumatic injury to continue their opioid pain regimen at their current dose and quantity and allow increases when necessary
2) Reinstate the medication regimen for those whose medications have been reduced or eliminated through no fault of their own but rather from increasing pressure of DEA regulation
3) Allow chronic pain patients to maintain their opioid drug therapy regardless of future DEA restrictions
4) Prohibit medical providers, insurance companies/Medicare, pharmacies etc from reducing or eliminating opioid drug treatments for legitimate chronic pain patients if no wrongdoing of the patient has occurred
5) Allow pain patients to safely seek the same pain treatment from another doctor in cases where ie. the patient relocates geographically or their doctor retires, without running the risk of being accused of “doctor shopping”
6) Creation of a CONFIDENTIAL medical ID card for legitimate chronic pain patients permitting the legal use of opioid medication

Legitimate chronic pain patients experience more pain in a week than most people do in a lifetime. They have suffered enough.

Please join us in helping them keep what little relief they have from relentless, unimaginable pain.

Need more proof of the undue hardship this issue poses for chronic pain patients? Watch this short video:
http://www.pbs.org/video/2365977432/

Then join us and sign the petition!